2 Houston-area men chosen as faces of beer's national ad campaign

By Heather Alexander |
April 24, 2014

Rancher and EMT Brandon Harris with his new placard commemorating his placing as one of 8 Busch Heroes for 2014.

Photo By Busch Beer

Rancher and EMT Brandon Harris from Manvel was one of two Texans picked for the national "heroes" campaign.

Photo By Busch Beer

Rancher and EMT Brandon Harris from Manvel was one of two Texans picked for the national "heroes" campaign.

Photo By Busch Beer

The two Texans were plastered on billboards all over the country and also received a gift of $2,000.

Photo By Busch Beer

Rancher and EMT Brandon Harris from Manvel was one of two Texans picked for the national "heroes" campaign.

Photo By Busch Beer

Temper mill worker Eric Castaneda from Houston was also chosen as a Busch hero.

Photo By Busch Beer

Temper mill worker Eric Castaneda from Houston was also chosen as a Busch hero.

Photo By Busch Beer

Temper mill worker Eric Castaneda from Houston was also chosen as a Busch hero.

Photo By Busch Beer

Temper mill worker Eric Castaneda from Houston was also chosen as a Busch hero.

Photo By Busch Beer

The two Texans were plastered on billboards all over the country and also received a gift of $2,000.

Photo By Busch Beer

The two Texans were plastered on billboards all over the country and also received a gift of $2,000.

Busch beer has honored not just one, but two Houston-area men in a group of just eight picked as national heroes.

Brandon Harris, a rancher and EMT from Manvel, and Eric Castaneda, a temper mill operator from Houston, have seen their faces plastered all over billboards across the country as part of the "Busch Heroes" campaign.

Now the company has sealed the deal with commemorative plaques for the two before it finalizes its search for the next group of honorees.

"Its been pretty cool, friends and family, people that know me see a billboard in San Antonio or Oklahoma," said Harris. "If someone had come up to me and said you're going to be on a billboard one day I would never have believed them."

Harris was picked because of his hard-working life on a ranch and his determination to help people through training as an EMT, which was inspired by the attacks on the world trade center in 2001.

"When 911 happened ... watching on TV, I just felt helpless. I thought EMT would be a good thing for me to have. I could actually help somebody so I got firefighter certified," Harris said.

Castaneda was choosen for his commitment to work in sometimes difficult conditions.

"Eric works full time flattening steel, he works in the part of the building where the temperature sometimes exceeds 100 degrees – so he's definitely earning it," said Nate Scudieri, brand director for Busch beer.

Busch said the two stood out from an amazing casting of thousands of individuals who were in the running to be in the campaign, which is designed to celebrate hard work.

"The whole idea of earning it is timeless. We never wanted to go out and contract actors, we wanted real people who are going about doing this every day," Scudieri said, adding that they wanted Texas to be highlighted because the state is one of their top three markets.

The two won a prize of $2,000 and the inevitable "bunch of beer," as Harris put it.

Nominations are open now for the 2015 Busch Heroes and beer fans can play a role in the program by nominating a hero in their life at www.Facebook.com/Busch.